On the early morning of the 1st of Elul of the year 2448 from creation (1313 BCE) Moses ascended Mount Sinai, taking with him the stone tablets he had hewn by divine command (see
"Today in Jewish History" for yesterday, Av 30), for G-d to re-inscribe the Ten
Commandments. On the mountain, G-d allowed Moses to "see My back, but not
My face" (which Maimonides interprets as a perception of
G-d's reality but not His essence) -- the closest any human being ever came to knowing G-d -- and taught him the secret of His "Thirteen Attributes of Mercy" (Exodus 33:18-34:8).

Moses remained on the mountain for 40 days, until the 10th of Tishrei (Yom
Kippur), during which time He obtained G-d's whole-hearted forgiveness and
reconciliation with the people of Israel following their betrayal of the
covenant between them with their worship of the Golden Calf. This was the third
of Moses' three 40-day periods on Mount Sinai in connection with
the Giving of the Torah. Ever since, the month of Elul serves as the "month of
Divine mercy and forgiveness."

In 1578, a Portuguese army led by King Sebastian I joined
forces with the deposed Moroccan Sultan Abdallah Mohammed, who desired to
regain the throne from his uncle, Abd al-Malik. Victory of the Portuguese king
would inevitably lead to the infamous Inquisition taking hold in Morocco.
On August 4, corresponding to 1 Elul, the Portuguese army was defeated in what
is known as the Battle of the Three Kings. A number of Moroccan communities
would commemorate this date each year as a day of celebration, thanking G‑d for
His salvation.

On this day, the prophet Haggai received a divine message to
pass on to “Zerubavel son of She’altiel ruler
of Judah and Joshua son of Jehozadak the High Priest” (Haggai 1:1), instructing
them to continue their efforts to build the Second Temple, whose construction
had been halted some seventeen years prior. (See entry for 21 Tishrei for a
similar prophecy transmitted by Haggai seven weeks later.)

Today is the second of the two Rosh Chodesh ("Head of the Month") days for the month of Elul (when a month has 30 days, both the last day of the month and the first day of the following month serve as the following month's Rosh Chodesh).

Special portions are added to the daily prayers: Hallel (Psalms 113-118) is recited -- in its "partial" form -- following the Shacharit morning prayer, and the Yaaleh V'yavo prayer
is added to the Amidah and to Grace After Meals; the additional Musaf prayer
is said (when Rosh Chodesh is Shabbat, special additions are made to the Shabbat Musaf). Tachnun (confession of sins) and similar prayers are omitted.

Many have the custom to mark Rosh Chodesh with a festive meal and reduced work
activity. The latter custom is prevalent amongst women, who have a special
affinity with Rosh Chodesh -- the month being the feminine aspect of the
Jewish Calendar.

As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is
traditionally a time of introspection and stocktaking -- a time to review one's
deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming
"Days of
Awe" of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.

As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness (see "Today in Jewish History" for Elul 1)
it is a most opportune time for teshuvah
("return" to G-d), prayer,
charity, and increased
Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew)
in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G-d. Chassidic master Rabbi
Schneur Zalman of Liadi
likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the
field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so
desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful
countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."

Specific Elul customs include the daily sounding of the shofar (ram's horn) as a
call to repentance. The Baal Shem Tov
instituted the custom of reciting three additional chapters of
Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on
Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire
book of Psalms). Click below to view today's Psalms.

From the beginning of Elul and throughout the High Holiday season, we include the blessing "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year" (Leshanah tovah tikateiv veteichateim) in letters and greetings to one another.

They are the plows He applies to the harsh earth so it will absorb the rains from heaven, the sandpaper to grind away the coarse surfaces of life, the polishing cloth so that it will glimmer in the light from above.

That friction that wears us down, those sparks that fly—it is the resistance to this refining process.

And if you should ask, how could it be that G‑d’s own creation should present resistance to His infinitely powerful breath?

In truth, it cannot. But He condenses that breath into a soul, He tightly focuses her power, until the harshness of this world can seem real to her, and then she will struggle, and in that struggle she will make the world shine.